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idaho panhandle

Going archery elk hunting in Sept. For elk does anyone have the 411 on the elk population for that area this year ,2010 was the last time I hunted this area and it wasn't as good as 2008, the wolf population had definitely decrease herd sizes and had them pretty much silent rut not to give away their local. Any info appreciated, I will call DNR also for info.

Wolves are still an issue, and our hunting quality has been steadily going downhill since 2004. The St. Joe river drainage in particular is still below managment objectives for both bulls & cows, and from talking with other hunters the Coeur d'Alene river drainage is not far behind although technically it is still meeting objectives. That being said, if you hunt the peak of the rut you can still get into bulls consistently if you're in the right spot at the right time (with no wolves pressuring the area).
IDFG is currently working on formulating a new 10 year elk management plan which should be completed prior to the fall. This should give a pretty good indication of where things are headed with regards to overall herd health.
Best of luck to you this season.

Don't know why, but I hear more bulls bugling in October than in September. Don't know why, but the last 3 years I have heard this.
The last 2 herd bulls that I killed, had cows in mid October. I hunt in the cda's.

The elk population has been declining steadily for awhile now and is probably gonna continue to do so until the wolves get in check, luckily there are some people taking it seriously and having some success with trapping, I also talked to an outfitter who's crew shot 10+ wolves last year in the Upper St. Joe area.

I grew up in the Panhandle and it's absolutely disgusting how few elk there are now compared to 15-20 years ago!

However, like stated, during the peak of the rut in the right places there is still good bulls to be found.